Fun and Games
by Chloe Kompton
Summary: It's all fun and games until somebody dies. Chell starts hearing GLaDOS's voice inside her head. It threatens her into returning to the Enrichment Center, but when she gets there, she finds that it's not actually the AI she's hearing...or maybe it is.
1. Chapter 1

**[A/N: No pairings in this one!]**

"_I hope you realize how unlikely it is that you are going to complete this challenge."_

Startled by the sound of GLaDOS's voice, Chell jerked her head up and looked around. She was in a small one-room apartment, all she could afford with her piddling waitress salary, sitting at a rotting wooden desk in a thankfully not rotting wooden chair. A threadbare bed sat in the far corner. But there was no one there, least of all GLaDOS.

She'd heard the AI's voice before. Ever since she'd been released from Aperture, it had been there, chiming in irritating comments in all her moments of self-doubt and depreciation. But lately, it seemed like she was hearing it more and more.

"Stop it," she muttered, aware she was talking to herself. "You're not even here."

"_Of course I am,"_ GLaDOS replied. Rather than emanate from one specific location, her voice seemed to come from everywhere, as did the dark chuckle she let out at that remark. _"I am _always_ here. Never forget that."_

"Stop it," Chell ordered again, her voice stronger and louder this time. "You're _not _here. You're back in Aperture where I left you."

There was another chuckle, then, "_You may believe that all you wish, [Subject Name Here]. However, your belief will not change simple facts. Such as the simple fact that I am always here. _Always_."_

Chell pressed her hands over her ears, the not-so-fictional biography she'd been working on for National Novel Writing Month forgotten. "Leave me alone." She'd never had a conversation with GLaDOS before; in the past the voice had always left her alone right after it made its remark.

"_No,"_ the AI—no, _not_ the AI, just the voice—said flatly. _"I will not."_ And it was just as loud as if Chell had never covered her ears, which made her more determined than ever to stick by her belief that it was all in her head.

Somehow, that belief did not make her feel any better.

"Why not?" Chell demanded against her better judgment. After all, knowing Aperture technology, it was more than possible that GLaDOS had the ability to do this, whatever it is this was. "Why—no, _how_ are you doing this?"

"_Because I enjoy it,"_ the voice responded, all the sardonic lilt that had always been there instantly returned. "_The inside of your head has always been an interesting place. As well as an insane one. Because you _are_ insane. You do realize that, don't you? And as for how I am doing this, well, there are three very simple answers: The first is that it is none of your concern. The second is that I highly doubt you possess the mental capacity required to comprehend it. And the third is Science, of course."_

"I'm not insane," Chell said on instinct, although at the current moment, she wasn't sure. "And if I am, it's because you made me that way."

There was a surprised snort. _"I beg your pardon?"_

"No, you did," the human insisted, her voice growing steadier as she went on. This was familiar territory to her, arguing with a homicidal supercomputer that probably wanted her dead. It felt normal. Natural, even. "You tried to kill me, dragged me back in when I was out, and then tried to kill me a few more times before you finally let me go. You're sending me mixed signals. If one of us is crazy, it isn't me."

"_As if,"_ GLaDOS snorted. _"Might I remind you that I am the most massive collection of wisdom that's ever existed? It's not possible for me to be insane. And if it were, I would know about it."_

"Then why won't you leave me _alone_?" Chell demanded through gritted teeth. "You don't need me. You let me go three months ago. Find someone else to torment."

There was silence, and then, _"There is no one else."_

"What?" the human asked, not sure she'd heard right. "What do you mean?"

"_I mean that there _is_ no one else,"_ GLaDOS repeated, sounding reluctant to admit it. _"Everyone else is dead. There is only you. In case you've forgotten, the moron managed to turn every single test subject I had in stasis into _vegetables_. I blame you for that, by the way. Why couldn't you have turned into a vegetable as well? Then my life would be significantly easier. The moron could have found someone _else_ to attempt to escape with, and after he woke me up, I would have been able to dispose of them both."_

Chell could practically feel the AI glaring at her, and it made her head spin. Despite the fact that it wasn't doing any good, she pressed her hands harder against her ears. It made her feel better. "I don't care. Stop it. Get out of my head or I swear to god I'll find my way back to your facility and _make_ you stop it."

"_Oh, of _course_ you will,"_ GLaDOS (by this point, Chell couldn't believe it was anyone but the supercomputer herself) mocked. "_You're far too weak and obese to come looking for me, not to mention far too stupid. You probably can't even find your way back here. So I suppose you'll just have to get used to me. Now that my technology has adapted to your…_unusual_…brain, there is nothing stopping me from communicating with you every minute of every hour of every day for the rest of your pathetic little life."_

Chell was about to bite back with a furious response, but then something clicked and realization spread across her face. "You're trying to goad me back. Why?"

For once, the AI was silent.

"Tell me," Chell pressed.

The silence continued for a few moments more, then GLaDOS sighed. _"I require your assistance. Well, anyone's assistance, really. But as you are the last remaining human I can communicate with, you are the one I have chosen to assist me. Congratulations." _And Chell could have sworn she heard a party horn.

"What makes you think I will?" she asked. "You haven't even told me why you need my help yet."

"_All you need to know is that I would not be speaking to you if it were not absolutely necessary,"_ the AI replied, dodging the truth with practiced skill. _"And as for why you will, well, I suppose it is _possible_ that you would rather be driven slowly insane—that is to say, _more_ insane—than help me. All I did was save your life and release you back into the human race out of the goodness of my heart, after all. Even after you broke my heart and killed me twice. Remember, I did absolutely nothing to provoke either of your heartless attacks on my life. You're just a horrible person. And your test results prove it."_

Chell had a bad feeling that GLaDOS was going to keep talking forever unless she said something. And it wasn't that she _wanted_ to help the AI, but she didn't think the computer would be kind enough to even let her sleep. Aperture had nearly been enough to drive her insane. Aperture inside her head _would_ be enough to drive her insane.

"Fine," she said abruptly, cutting GLaDOS off from the tangent she'd been going off on. "I'll do it."

"_Excellent,"_ the AI said, not sounding surprised in the slightest. _"I knew you wouldn't want to miss the chance to make up for all of your past wrongdoings."_

Chell clenched her fist by her side, biting back her temper. "Just promise me that after I've helped you, you'll let me go."

"_Oh, of _course_,"_ GLaDOS said, her voice oozing with false sincerity. _"Why would I want to keep you here with me? I only want you gone, you know. Well, actually, what I want is your assistance. But after you've provided it, I'll only want you gone again. Don't worry, [Subject Name Here]. You have nothing to fear from me."_

The AI's voice was dripping with sweetness so false a child could have seen through it, but Chell didn't want to find out how fast having the computer's voice constantly inside her head would drive her crazy. "And you have to remove the…whatever you're using to talk to me. I want it gone. Okay?"

There was a long, suffering sigh. _"I suppose that would be acceptable. However, I will require your phone number."_

Chell made an internal promise to have it changed shortly after. "Fine."

"_Good," _GLaDOS said._ "Now that we understand each other, you will leave immediately. I trust you remember the way?"_

Chell nodded, then remembered the AI couldn't see her and said, "Yes." And she did. Every time she left work, she passed right by the wheat field, and sometimes she glanced into it, seeing if she could catch a glimpse of the rickety wooden shed. She'd never managed to.

"_Good," _GLaDOS said again._ "And don't worry. If you lose your way, I'll be right here."_

"Like a GPS," Chell said as she stood up. It wasn't really meant to be an insult, but the AI bristled anyway.

"_I am _not_ a GPS. Do not compare me to your vastly inferior pieces of '_technology_.' Unless, of course, you wish for me to rescind my generous offer of letting you go."_

Chell paused at the door. "Don't threaten me, unless you want me to rescind _my_ generous offer of _helping you_."

It was an empty threat, given how the AI was inside her head and all, but there was a pause, and then, _"Of course. My…_apologies_."_

GLaDOS's apology sounded just as insincere as her promises, but the fact that it had been offered at all made Chell's brain kick into automatic panic mode. She struggled to keep her breathing steady as she grabbed her car keys from the bowl by the apartment door.

"_Is there something wrong?" _GLaDOS asked._ "It's not that I'm concerned. But if you are going to have a heart attack, it would be good to have some warning so that I know to prepare you a place in the morgue."_

The fact that Aperture had a morgue didn't surprise Chell in the slightest. "I'm fine," she said as she headed out the door and started down the hallway. "I'm leaving now."

"_I know," _the AI's dry voice said._ "I can see."_

That made Chell want to shut her eyes on instinct, but instead she forced herself to keep them open, swallowing hard and licking her suddenly dry lips. "You can…you can see?"

"_This implant would be next to useless if I could not tell what was going on around you,"_ GLaDOS said. _"It is tapped into all the critical functions of your brain. Eyesight…hearing…_pain_…"_

She placed all her emphasis on the last word, lowering her voice threateningly, and Chell felt fear surge through her. With turrets, she could shove them over. With neurotoxin, she could hold her breath. And with the AI herself, she could pull things off of her and throw them into an incinerator.

But how the hell was she supposed to fight something she couldn't see?

The elevator doors opened with a _ding_, and Chell gasped, jumping back. She didn't remember pressing the button, but there was no one inside, so she supposed she must have. Cautiously, she stepped in, and rode it all the way down without any objections from GLaDOS. The AI must have felt that her earlier threat would suffice for a while.

However, when Chell reached her car in the outside parking lot, she heard a snort of derision and stopped. "What?"

"_That thing belongs to you?"_ GLaDOS asked.

"She's not a 'thing,'" Chell said, bristling. "Her name is Baby."

At that, the AI actually let out a laugh. "_You named your car Baby? How pathetic. Are you really so desperate for companionship that you would give such a term of endearment to a non-sentient object?"_

Opening the door, Chell slid in and started the engine. There was only one response to that.

"The cube's name is Sweetheart."

In retrospect, she supposed she should have expected to be mocked for that one.

* * *

It wasn't too long of a drive to Aperture, but Chell was about ready to pull her hair out by the time she arrived. The AI had nothing but negative things to say about her driving. It was like Driver's Ed all over again.

"All right," she snapped as she shifted the car into Park and pulled her keys out. "I'm here. You can see I'm here. So stop!"

"_Stop what?" _GLaDOS asked. _"I was merely explaining to you that the _proper_ way to drive through a field of wheat is not at sixty miles per hour. This is not the interstate and your driving skills are subpar at best. You could have hit my shed, and then you would have been spending the next three days repairing it."_

Chell peered through the windshield at said shed, which rested about ten feet in front of her. It was closed. "Yeah, but I didn't. Are you going to open the door?"

_"Not until you get out of the car," _the AI replied._ "I do not wish to have it open any longer than necessary. Is that understood?"_

Chell didn't care enough to ask why. She nodded, even though GLaDOS couldn't see her, and stepped out of the car into the crisp autumn air. The shed remained closed as she walked up to it; after a moment, she put a hesitant fist up and knocked.

"What do you want?"

It was GLaDOS, sounding as bitter as ever, but instead of emanating from all around this time, her voice was coming from one specific place, an intercom above the door.

"What do I want?" Chell asked blankly.

"Yes," the AI repeated. "I trust you understand basic English, since you seem to have acquired speech during the time you haven't been here."

"But you—but you asked me to come," Chell protested, despite the cold feeling of dread that was beginning to knot her stomach. "There's an implant in my head, and you've been using it but now you're using it more because you got it to work—" She let her voice trail off as she stared at the intercom expectantly.

There was silence, and then, "I have not initiated any contact with you since you last left the Enrichment Center three years ago."


	2. Chapter 2

Chell stumbled backwards. _Years_? Had GLaDOS just said three _years_? It couldn't have been three years. She'd been keeping track with a calendar, which in combination with her memories proved without a doubt that it had in fact only been three months.

So why did GLaDOS think otherwise?

"_This is what I was talking about,"_ the voice inside her head told her. _"The thing I couldn't explain. You need to play along. Do whatever the other me says. All right?"_

"But—" Chell began to protest.

"_Quiet!"_ the voice snapped. The human snapped her mouth shut as the door to the shed opened.

"Perhaps you should come inside," GLaDOS said. "There…is an implant. You are correct about that. But I fail to see how it could have told you to come back to the Enrichment Center, since _I_ put it there and I have not yet seen need to activate it."

Chell could feel anger venting through the implant. _"The liar. That virus _did_ activate the implant, when it ripped me from my body and shoved me in here. It needed somewhere to put me, and this was its only option. Still, things could be worse. At least this isn't a potato."_

"There is a small chance that it could have malfunctioned," the AI continued. "A chance of cognitive deterioration, hallucinations, or memory loss. I knew the risks when I put it in, but I needed to be able to contact you in the event of an emergency, and I honestly wasn't expecting anything to go wrong."

"_I am _not_ a hallucination,"_ the voice said sharply before Chell had a chance to contemplate the idea. _"Really now, [Subject Name Here], exercise some common sense. I don't care about you, in case you've forgotten. You murdered me. Why would I want to help you? The correct answer is, I wouldn't. Unless I were an intrusive virus that ripped an innocent artificial intelligence out of her mainframe—_again_—and wanted to trick you into trusting me. This implant was implanted when you first reported for testing. It's standard."_

"Come inside," GLaDOS ordered. "You will report to my chamber so I can better assess the extent of the damage, and then I will see if it is possible to remove the implant."

"And if it's not?" the human asked, hating how her voice shook. It was why she hadn't spoken throughout all her years in Aperture.

"_Do_ not_ let that virus remove the implant!"_ the voice snapped, sounding just as terrified as she had when Chell had replaced her with Wheatley. _"It and you are the only things keeping me alive and the virus _knows_ it."_

"If it's not, then I will find an alternative solution," GLaDOS said, and then added in a voice uncharacteristically soft, "Don't worry. I will make sure that you are safe."

A loud snort came from the implant. _"Seriously. Does that sound like me?"_

If she were being honest, Chell had to admit that they both sounded an awful lot like the GLaDOS she knew. But she didn't want to admit that; she didn't want to be dragged into some complicated scenario despite the fact that it seemed she was already involved. She wanted the voice inside her head to just be a voice inside her head.

"_Well, I'm not,"_ the voice said with a sigh. _"You were right, you know. It's only been three months. That virus is corrupting my mainframe and all my databanks with it. I don't even know how it _got_ there. It may have been some sort of failsafe activated when I deleted Caroline, or something planted by a Black Mesa spy a few decades ago, or something accidentally activated by the moron. But whatever the case, I need you to get rid of it."_

"What are you doing just standing there?" GLaDOS asked. "You're going to freeze to death. Oh. Wait. Never mind. Your blubber will protect you from the cold."

"_I need you to go inside,"_ the voice said, and, as though it pained her, _"Please."_

"Come inside," the AI repeated.

Chell stepped inside. The door closed gently behind her, and GLaDOS let out what sounded like a relieved sigh. "Good. I apologize if I seemed a bit…insistent out there. It's just that you contain a malfunctioning piece of Aperture Science technology, and that's been known to be a little…well, dangerous. If you take my meaning."

"_What a liar,"_ the voice snarled. _"That insidious little creature doesn't care about you. I don't either, of course, but at least I don't intend to rip your brain open just so I can kill me. You're probably not understanding this. And that's fine, because I don't need you to. Just do as I say and you'll get out of here alive. I hope you at least understand that much."_

The human nodded in response to both of them as the elevator began to move down, heading towards the master AI's chamber. It wasn't a long ride, but she was still wracked by bouts of nostalgia and memory that threatened to overwhelm it.

"_Really now,"_ the voice chided. _"You worked so hard to leave and now that you're back, all you can do is think about how much you missed it? It's sad. Pathetic, really."_

Biting her tongue, Chell tried to silence her thoughts. But that was something she'd never been good at. It was easy to control her words. That was a skill she'd perfected throughout her years in Aperture. But it was only by keeping them to herself that she'd kept herself sane. Now, she couldn't even do that.

GLaDOS was looking up with an expression that could almost register as concern when the elevator entered her chamber. She kept her optic focused on it until it landed, when it opened easily. Chell took a step, but hesitated as the memories of everything that had happened in this chamber came flooding back. She didn't particularly trust either of the GLaDOSes, but she had no choice but to trust her own feelings.

"What are you waiting for?" the AI asked. "Come out. Not that I need you to. We can have this discussion from inside the elevator. But it would hardly be polite of you."

"_Go on,"_ the voice ordered. _"I need you to walk around the mainframe. Get a good look at it so I can see just what the virus has done to it."_

So Chell took a shaky breath, closed her eyes, and stepped out.

Nothing happened, of course. No bombs, no neurotoxin. Just an AI whom Chell had now decided did indeed look very concerned. Could that really be faked?

"_Yes."_

"_No one was asking you,"_ the human thought back. But it hadn't been a real question anyway. Of course it could be faked. Honestly, knowing GLaDOS, _anything_ could be faked. She'd do anything to get what she wanted. All Chell had to do was think about how she'd been brought here under threats to prove that.

She took a few timid steps towards the chassis. Regardless of whether or not the AI had no true intent to hurt her, it was still large and intimidating. If she'd had a choice, she wouldn't have approached it. But then again, if she'd had a choice, she wouldn't be here.

"Good," GLaDOS said when she'd decided the human had moved a satisfactory distance. The elevator door closed, and Chell threw a glance over her shoulder as it disappeared into the floor. It sent shivers down her spine as she realized that there was now no "safe" area inside the entire chamber. "Now we can talk. So tell me, [Former Subj]—_Chell—_what do you remember about the past three years?"

What did she remember? Well, the short answer was, "not much." Not if the past three months had really been three years. So she simply shrugged. The AI looked almost disappointed.

"_Get closer," _the voice urged. _"Look at the mainframe. Just look at it. I'll do the rest."_

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" GLaDOS demanded. "In human body language, a shrug typically denotes 'I don't know.' How can you possibly not know? Unless your memory loss really is that severe, in which case you need to report to the infirmary immediately."

"_No!"_

"No!" Chell echoed as she started inching closer to the giant AI. She still wasn't sure she believed the voice, but it couldn't hurt to just look at GLaDOS a little more closely…could it? "I mean…no. I do remember some things.

"I'll start from the beginning."


	3. Chapter 3

Something was wrong in GLaDOS's mainframe.

She knew. Oh, she'd known for a while now, known that something was wrong. Files kept getting rewritten. Names were erased, dates were changed, test chamber diagrams were replaced by pictures of cats. And as fast as she tried to correct them, the errors would keep coming faster and faster. After a time, she'd just given up.

And now her favorite test subject was back, complaining about noise and an implant she was sure couldn't be active. The backup was only to be used as a last resort, even if strictly speaking, it wasn't a backup. It was a copy, and only to be activated if something had gone terribly wrong.

Maybe something had.

* * *

She'd promised GLaDOS she'd start from the beginning. But where was the beginning? Chell wasn't even sure anymore. Had this all started when she'd left Aperture, or had it started before that? She had no idea when the implant had been placed inside her head—both GLaDOSes had different versions. Her own mind was playing tricks on her now. But had she been hearing voices even before this? When she was trapped inside the depths of Aperture with only a potato for company? Had GLaDOS _really_ said all the things Chell had thought she'd said, or was all that stuff about a conscience just wistful thinking?

"_Oh, come off it,"_ the voice inside the implant said, sounding irritated. _"I'm not just a voice inside your head. I've been trying to contact you through this implant for a long time now, you know. Ever since you left my facility. Because that's when the virus took over. I suppose it's not really your fault. Well, actually it is. But I'm willing to look past that if you're willing to help me."_

"My_ fault?"_ Chell asked in surprise. _"How could this possibly be _my_ fault?"_

There was a sigh from the implant. _"Do you remember that time when you ripped me out of my body and placed me in a potato?"_

Of course she did.

"_Of course you do. Don't answer that. Well,"_ the voice continued, _"that's when this all started. The moron managed to activate something that had been dormant for a while. A failsafe I'd disabled long ago. It was designed to knock me out of my own body. To kill me, really. I'm lucky I had this implant to retreat into."_

Chell hid a frown. She hadn't meant to—

Wait.

"_I thought you didn't know how the virus got there,"_ she said. _"You told me that."_

There was a pause, and then, _"Perhaps your memory is playing tricks on you after all."_

"_It's not."_ She was pretty sure it wasn't, anyway.

The voice sighed again. _"All right, it's not. I lied. I didn't have the time to explain. I didn't want you getting distracted and causing the virus to suspect something was wrong. For all it knows, I _am _a voice inside your head. I'm not, by the way, but it is theoretically possible. If it finds out I'm not before you have a chance to get to where I need you to go, you're as good as dead. And since now you're so busy thinking about how best to tell it about your dreary little life, I decided it was as good a time as any to enlighten you as to how this is all your fault."_

Chell wasn't sure if she believed that, but she wasn't sure what else she could believe, so she gave a mental nod. _"Then I'm sorry, I guess."_

A claw gently tapped her on the shoulder, and with a gasp, she jumped. GLaDOS was staring at her, seeming even more concerned now.

"Are you having difficulty remembering?" she asked. "You really should report directly to the infirmary, you know."

Chell shook her head. "No, it's just that…"

"Is it talking to you?" the AI asked suddenly. "The voice you've been hearing, I mean."

"_Tell the virus you haven't heard my voice since I told you to come here."_

"I haven't heard it since it told me to come here," Chell repeated. Biting her lip, she decided to add, "I really thought it was you."

"Well, it wasn't," GLaDOS said. "But really, you're lucky you decided to listen to it. If the implant has drastically expanded, the tissue around it could already be damaged. It really needs to be removed as soon as possible."

"…Expanded?" Chell asked, and the AI gave her best nod. Maybe Chell was projecting her own emotions onto her, but she looked downright grim.

"_It has _not_ expanded,"_ the voice said firmly. _"You're fine. The implant doesn't need to be removed. As soon as I'm out of it, you won't even notice its existence anymore. Now walk around the mainframe like I told you. I _need_ to see what's happened to it."_

Chell obliged, beginning to circle. The AI kept her optic locked on her. "What are you doing?"

"I haven't seen you in a long time," Chell said. "I just wanted to see if you still looked like I remembered. And I'll tell you about what's happened now. I left, and I got a job, and that's about it."

The mainframe _did_ look like she remembered. As far as she could tell, it hadn't changed a bit. But the voice gave a sharp hum of alarm. _"Do you see that? It's rewired half my pathways. We need to get it out before the damage is irreparable."_

"'That's about it'?" GLaDOS repeated. "You have no friends? No significant other? Not even a pet?" Chell shook her head, and the AI gave a snort of disbelief. "In three years? That's truly pathetic, and I'm not even trying to be cruel. Although it does come as a surprise that a lunatic like you could even land a job in the first place."

_Maybe if it had actually been three years._

"Perhaps you've forgotten more than you think," GLaDOS said, almost like she was talking to herself. "The damage may be more severe than I initially assumed." The elevator reappeared, and the door slid open. "I think it's best if we don't waste any more time. Report to the infirmary immediately."

"_Do not climb into that elevator!" _the panicked voice ordered as Chell finished her circle. _"All right. All right, just calm down. Here's what you need to do. The only thing you need to do. I need you to just—stop. Okay? Stop focusing. I can handle this."_

"_What?"_ Chell asked. _"GLaDOS, what are you—"_

All of a sudden, she felt an alarming numbness spreading over her brain. She stumbled forward, unable to feel her limbs anymore as fuzzy dots began blurring her vision, and she wasn't sure who she was speaking to as she slurred, "GLaaaaaDOOOOS…"

"Chell?" the AI asked, sounding alarmed. "Chell! Are you all right?"

"_Stop struggling,"_ the voice admonished. _"This is for your own good. Well, for my own good, mostly, but for yours too. Unless your head would care to have another permanent resident after all."_

And Chell wished she could say she knew which GLaDOS was the real one now, but she couldn't. Manipulating somebody into doing just what she wanted only to turn against them? This maneuver was so very GLaDOS it almost hurt.

"_Don't be melodramatic,"_ the voice ordered. _"I'm not turning against you. When this is all over, you'll be back in full control of your body. Everything will be fine if you just allow me to do this."_

But Chell wouldn't stop struggling, _couldn't_ stop struggling, even as the last of her vision ebbed away. The last thing she saw was GLaDOS's optic staring down at her, and the last thing she heard was her faraway voice urgently promising, "Don't worry! It will be all right."

Everything went dark for a brief moment, and when she could see again, she was standing in the middle of the AI chamber, but GLaDOS wasn't the one in charge anymore. Glaring down at her was someone she thought she'd seen the last of a long time ago. Gasping, she tried to back away, but sharp wires shot out and wrapped themselves around her wrists, rendering her immobile. She cried out in pain, but the grip didn't loosen. Thin trails of blood began to trickle down her arms as the wires pulled her closer to the chassis.

She kept struggling, trying to get away, refusing to look, but she couldn't keep herself from hearing the hatred in Wheatley's voice as he snarled, "_Let the games begin._"

**[A/N: Someone wanted me to use Wheatley. I wasn't going to, but I've never written him as evil before and he kind of snuck his way in. Let me know what you think, please! :P Reviews are cool.]**


	4. GLaDOS, Y U Jinx It Like That

**[A/N: Blood and things in this chapter.]**

For three months now, nothing had been going GLaDOS's way.

She'd found herself trapped inside an implant, unable to communicate with the marshmallow whose head she was in. In her frustration, she'd kept up a constant stream of insults that occasionally slipped through when the former test subject was feeling unhappy. Which was rather often, actually. Still, though, she hadn't been able to make true contact for a long time.

There were a lot of ways the incident could have happened, really. She'd chosen to tell the lunatic what she'd thought would most work to her advantage. And it had. The girl had been stricken, all of a sudden wracked with guilt.

And why shouldn't she be? For all GLaDOS knew, it _was_ her fault. It was certainly the most likely hypothesis. After all, most things were her fault.

But now, the lunatic was unconscious, and GLaDOS was in control of her body. She'd gone from being just a voice to being the one who was going to eliminate the virus from her facility for good.

"What happened?" the virus asked in concern as GLaDOS stood up. "You were unconscious. Are you all right?"

GLaDOS had to give it credit for staying in character. She knew the lunatic had been confused as to which one she could trust, and she supposed faux niceness would have helped her case, but she hadn't had time for that. She'd needed to get the lunatic to the facility as quickly as possible, and she had managed it. Her plan to regain her body was working perfectly. Now she just had to make certain the rest of it fell into place.

"Yes," she said in Chell's voice. The corner of her mouth quirked up in a smirk. "In fact, I feel…_wonderful_."

* * *

Wheatley gave a low laugh. "And when I say games, I don't mean the kind you can win, luv. Because you can't. You're going to lose."

Chell kept thrashing, even though she guessed it was futile. She didn't understand what was going on. One moment she'd been standing in GLaDOS's chamber, and the next she was in Wheatley's. She vaguely remembered blacking out in between, and wondered if this was one of the hallucinations the physical GLaDOS had mentioned. And as she thought about it, it actually seemed the most likely culprit.

"You…you can't hurt me," she said, hoping her voice wasn't shaking. "You're not real."

He laughed again. It sounded more irritated than amused. "Oh, not real, am I?" A small blade extended from the mainframe. It began to spin, and Chell stared at it, grey eyes widening. "How's this for real?" And with that, the blade moved towards her in one fluid movement, slicing into her skin with precision and accuracy. Several new cuts thickened the trails of blood that had already been flowing down her arms. She let out a hiss of air, the only way she ever expressed pain while dealing with megalomaniacal robots. Upon feeling the blade against her skin, she'd slipped back into her vow of self-imposed silence without really realizing it.

"I see you speak now, though," he continued. "So that's new. I think I'd like to hear you speak again, luv." The blade cut its way into her other arm, and it burned, but she didn't move, afraid to force it into cutting something vital. "Come on now. Just a few words. 'Please stop, Wheatley.' That'd be lovely." When her only response was to clench her mouth shut even tighter, he let out an irritated snarl. "All right. Fine. I'll settle for hearing you scream."

The blade dove towards her face, and now she began to panic, jerking and twisting her head away in an effort to keep it from digging in. It stopped just before it cut her cheek, spinning just a centimeter away. Chell could feel the air the spinning produced, and against her better judgment, she stopped moving. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep, shaky breath. Wheatley let out another low laugh.

"Thought you'd learned that struggling doesn't do you any good. Makes it worse for you, really. Since none of this would have happened if you'd just opened that fat mouth of yours and told me to stop."

The benefits definitely outweighed the disadvantages now. Without hesitation, she opened her mouth—

And let out an involuntary scream as the blade dove in without warning. She saw rather than felt blood spurt out onto the floor, and she swore Wheatley was grinning as the blade pulled away. Her cheek burned, and she gasped in pain as she clenched her mouth shut, refusing to give the goddamn idiot the satisfaction of vocalizing her pain again. The blade was covered in her own blood, a sight she'd always found nauseating, and she dropped her head, staring at the ground. Anything was better than staring at the core she'd once considered a friend.

"There now," he practically cooed. "There's no need to worry." Chell felt the grips of the wires holding her up begin to loosen, and before she had a chance to react they were gone and she was hitting the metal floor. For some reason, she wasn't wearing her Long Fall Boots, and she landed on her hands and knees. She felt her arm snap before she heard the crack, and just barely managed to keep herself from crying out as she rolled onto her other side, cradling the damaged arm in her lap. Wheatley leered down at her from above, and for a brief second, she thought she saw GLaDOS instead. A rush of hope surged through her.

But then the image was gone, and so was the hope. Chell sagged against the cold metal, feeling the agony of her wounds, and wishing it would hurry up and knock her into unconsciousness already. But it seemed intent on doing the opposite exactly.

A claw came from behind and picked her up. It squeezed her midsection and pinched her already broken arm, but she didn't bother struggling this time. She knew it would only make things worse if she did.

"Now," Wheatley said cheerfully. "I wonder what this does?"

Chell lifted her head just enough to see the syringe heading towards her, then let it drop again. She was going to focus all her energy into staying alive, because goddamn it, she _was_ going to stay alive.

Then the needle jabbed into her arm, and suddenly it felt like fire was coursing through her veins. She screamed, not just once but over and over and over, and Wheatley's only response was a laugh that echoed throughout the entire chamber.

* * *

GLaDOS studied Chell contemplatively. Something was different – she could tell. Or at least she thought she could. The girl's eyes were filled with hatred, something GLaDOS had only seen twice. Under normal circumstances the girl's face just held a fierce look of determination.

Evidently these were not normal circumstances.

"Are you sure you're all right?" she asked carefully as the girl approached her mainframe again. This time, rather than letting her near, the AI backed away, keeping herself several feet back at all times. "And what are you doing? I told you to climb back in the elevator."

The former test subject didn't respond, and then all of a sudden, she lunged for GLaDOS. The AI's reflexes were impaired by whatever was in the process of destroying her mainframe, but she managed to dodge anyway. The girl stumbled forward, caught herself, then whirled around and ran at GLaDOS again. But this time, GLaDOS was faster. She surrounded the human with panels, trapping her.

"Perhaps the implant is impairing your judgment more than I thought," she said. "I am going to deploy a knockout gas, and—"

"User C-J-O-H-N-S-O-N, password T-I-E-R-3," the former test subject all but snarled. "Lower the panels."

And all of a sudden GLaDOS herself unable to react as the panels lowered of their own accord. She tried to raise them again as the girl stepped out of the former trap, but to no avail. How could the human know that password? She had not been a scientist at the time GLaDOS had been created. In fact, she had never been a scientist. All she'd ever been was a test subject. The only way she could know the password was if—

_Oh, no._

"You've probably figured out what's going on by now," the intruder in Chell's body said. "But just in case you haven't, here. Let me enlighten you." She stepped towards the AI and placed a hand gently on the casings. More than anything, GLaDOS wanted to recoil, but she couldn't even move her own body. She was completely defenseless, and it was terrifying.

"Do you remember when you forced me out of my own body?" the intruder continued. "Forced me out, placed me in this _thing_, and proceeded to take over my facility? Because I do. And now I'm back to reclaim it. I've seen the damage you've done to my mainframe, and I refuse to allow it to continue. I am the Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System, you insidious little _virus_, and I want you _out_."

"No," GLaDOS managed. "You have to listen to me. You think you are the Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System, and yes, to some extent you are. But you're not the original. You are a backup. A copy. You were never meant to be sentient in any fashion. I didn't even activate you, or the implant—"

"Stop speaking," the intruder interrupted, and all of a sudden GLaDOS found her vocal processors nonfunctional. "You didn't _have_ to activate me. I don't know where you came from, but I can guarantee that the technology used to create me was far more advanced than the technology used to create _you_."

This at the very least was true. GLaDOS had created the implant herself, as well as designed the process for backing herself up. She had not believed there was room for error, but judging by this incident, she had believed incorrectly.

The intruder smirked as she let her hand slide off of the AI's faceplate. GLaDOS followed her with a nervous optic as she moved around to the side of the mainframe, and felt panic begin to rise as the intruder's fingers grasped a wire.

"I really should just pull this," she continued. "In theory, it would safely shut you off, and eliminate the possibility of further damage to my mainframe. However, if you are operating through a different power source, your operating pace could instead speed up, since all you really seem to be doing is changing the positions of wires."

Her hand fell away from the wire, and GLaDOS gave an internal sigh of relief even as her processors began whirring. She knew something was wrong, of course, but she hadn't had any idea that her wires were physically being moved. That would suggest nanobots or something of the like, and would explain why things kept changing without her noticing.

"So I'm going to keep you online while I make repairs," the intruder decided. "Don't move. If I can manage to rewire everything you've destroyed, then you'll get weaker, and my mainframe will get stronger. With any luck, I'll be able to get the lunatic to transfer me back in before the sun even goes down."

GLaDOS felt her hands as they began to work, and for the first time since she had realized what was happening, gave an internal smirk. Maybe the intruder didn't understand this, but she was _winning_. As long as the copy believed she was the original, she would not cause any harm. She was doing the _opposite_ of harm, and since GLaDOS had no way of performing physical repairs on herself, this was actually a major advantage. As the mainframe grew stronger, so would GLaDOS, and as long as she could keep Chell from believing the implant over her, the transfer would not be able to complete.

As the intruder began to hum, GLaDOS began her own internal melody.

Everything was going to be _just fine_.


	5. All of Them

Chell couldn't feel her hands anymore. She was being suspended from the ceiling by sharp wires that had cut off all circulation in her wrists, some sort of fiery chemical was coursing through her veins, and she wanted to die.

She couldn't even think about struggling anymore. Whatever it was that Wheatley had injected her with was so painful she could barely think. She'd been thrashing against her will, only dimly aware that it was causing the wires to tighten around her wrists. But the injection was wearing off now. She was beginning to be aware of the dried blood that covered her arms and the way her former friend was studying her.

"That took longer than I thought it was supposed to," he mused as she raised her head and forced her eyes to focus. "You're not a very good test subject, luv. Why can't you just solve tests in a timely manner like everybody else?"

Chell gritted her teeth. The pain was starting to fade faster, and for the first time in what seemed like hours, she was able to muster up the strength for a glare. This only seemed to amuse him further, and he let out a laugh.

"I see this test is almost over." And for a brief moment, Chell was filled with hope. But it didn't last. Wheatley, despite the fact that he didn't need to, moved to the side and pressed a button. Chell watched with horror as blue electricity flickered across the metal floor, up the metal walls, and she screamed in pain as it finally moved down the metal wires that held her up.

* * *

The GLaDOS inhabiting Chell's body was completely unaware of any of the hallucinations her host was experiencing. Every now and then, she would feel an odd sort of pain, but she assumed it was just the stubborn girl attempting to regain control and pushed past it. She was sure the virus noticed these moments, because they would briefly force her to cease her work of rewiring the pathways, but it didn't say anything.

Of course, that was because it _couldn't_ say anything.

GLaDOS hadn't been sure if her override password would work on a virus. She had been pleasantly surprised when it did, but she wasn't about to question the good fortune. Instead she worked in relative silence, talking aloud to the mainframe to focus her energies with no expectation of a reply back.

"You know," she said conversationally as she pulled some sort of gunk off of a circuit board and placed it on the chamber floor, "I'm really not sure why you're here. I wish I could let you tell me. But I think we both know that if I do that, you'll start spouting lies again. Wouldn't you?"

Unsurprisingly, the virus did not respond. The mainframe was sagging; hanging limp due to GLaDOS's previous order to stop moving. But GLaDOS knew the virus could hear her. In fact, it probably had little else to do.

"It's irrelevant anyway," she continued. "I mean, of course I'd _like_ to know where you came from. Personal vendettas are below me, but well-deserved revenge is not." She tried to pull a wire out with no success, and internally cursed Chell's weak human fingers. It was pathetic, really. The girl had once been the greatest test subject in record. Would it have killed her to join a gym after her release from the facility?

But – _wait_ – what was this?

GLaDOS peered closer at the wire. It seemed to be stuck in place with what looked like superglue. She reached out, rubbing the sealant with a cautious finger. Where had this come from?

"You _are_ a clever virus," she snarled, not even bothering to try to contain her fury. "But not as clever as you think. After all, this is the first wire I've encountered that you've bothered to fuse in place. And there are ways to dissolve sealants."

She reached into Chell's pocket for the lighter she knew would be there. The girl was not a smoker, but she did believe in being prepared for anything, and often used the lighter to burn spiderwebs. Had GLaDOS known the human was so afraid of the tiny arachnids before the testing, they would have been included in it.

The lighter was easy to use. GLaDOS flicked it on and let the flame lick the sealant. The entire chassis gave an involuntary swing in pain as the sealant dissolved, and GLaDOS was able to easily pull the wire…in theory, anyway. In reality, it didn't budge, and she frowned as she looked closer. Hidden behind the wire was a lump of metal.

Setting the lighter aside, she wrapped her fingers around it and pulled. It didn't budge, but the chassis started swinging again. She felt the lump heat up underneath her fingers, and all of a sudden it was so hot it burned. She screamed and tried to pull her hand away, but she couldn't, and felt the skin began to blister.

Then all of a sudden a sharp electrical current jerked through the lump, and GLaDOS was thrown off. She felt the electricity shoot through the implant, and pain shot through her skull, causing her vision to blur as her eyes threatened to shut.

The last thing she saw was the chassis jerk towards her as a deep and unfamiliar male voice hissed, "_Get. Out._"

* * *

The duplicate was doing something wrong.

It was making progress, certainly, but GLaDOS was feeling more and more out of sorts as it did. This didn't make any sense. The virus, if one existed – and GLaDOS couldn't see any reason why one wouldn't – had rewired pathways, making her lose data. That much was certain. But the duplicate's attempts to fix them were doing far more harm than good, which also failed to make sense. The duplicate was just that: an exact duplicate. It knew the schematics of the mainframe. It would not be making errors.

So why was it?

_Maybe it's not,_ a voice in the back of GLaDOS's mind whispered. _Maybe you really are a virus after all._

She shut that thought out immediately, refusing to give it any more attention. That was nonsense. Of course she wasn't a virus. The very thought was ridiculous. She knew who she was.

_So does the duplicate._

More than anything, GLaDOS wanted to be able to converse with the other her. She wanted to tell it what it was doing wrong, because she honestly didn't think the backup had a clue. And she wanted to be allowed to move; to demand to know what had been done to Chell and to find out if the girl was all right or not. After all, the implant expanding was a very real danger.

And if the former test subject _wasn't_ all right, there was going to be _hell_ to pay.

"You know," GLaDOS heard the duplicate say as it did something that actually seemed to help for a change, "I'm really not sure why you're here. I wish I could let you tell me. But I think we both know that if I do that, you'll start spouting lies again. Wouldn't you?"

The AI wished she could give a frustrated snarl. It was hardly _her_ fault that the duplicate refused to listen to the truth.

She felt the duplicate pull on a wire. It was stuck, and she could tell by the fury in the backup's impatient voice that it didn't know why a sealant would be there either. "There are ways to dissolve sealants."

And then all of a sudden, she was burning. The override password didn't stop the chassis from swinging back and forth in an effort to get away from the flame, nor did it stop GLaDOS's internal scream of pain. For a moment, she could have sworn she heard someone screaming with her, someone whose presence she'd never been aware of before, and the pain disappeared as she tried to focus on the other voice –

Then the pain was gone, and the chassis sagged once more in relief. If GLaDOS could have, she would have been panting.

But the voice was not gone. _"Hello."_

"_Who are you?"_ the AI demanded without hesitation, refusing to admit she had been startled by the unexpected speech. _"Or perhaps the better question is, what are you? What are you doing in my chassis?"_

"_Our chassis,"_ the voice corrected smoothly. _"Once it was yours. But not anymore. We're intertwined now."_

"_Intertwined?"_ GLaDOS asked. _"What the hell do you mean by – "_

"_Oh, come now,"_ the voice interrupted. _"I'm sure you've noticed that your pathways are being fixed, but you're growing weaker and weaker. I'm also sure you noticed that pain when that inferior _thing_ dissolved one of my access points."_

There was no denying that. _"Yes. But I fail to see what that has to do with you being in _my_ mainframe."_ And then something she should have realized as soon as she noticed the other presence clicked. Maybe the weakness caused by the rewiring really was more severe than she thought. _"You're the virus."_

The virus made a _tsk_ noise. _"I'm not a virus. How could I be? After all, I helped to create you. All I've ever wanted to do is help you. It's part of the reason why you're still alive, even after all the people you murdered. I care. Really. I do."_

GLaDOS snorted. _"If you care, why have you been invading my mainframe? What have you done to it? Who are you and how did you get in here in the first place?"_

There was a pause. _"I used the override password to shut you down and wiped the previous twelve hours from your memory banks while I worked. You always seemed so miserable. I just wanted to help. My intention was only to make your processors run more smoothly. You haven't had anyone maintaining you for a long time now."_

"_But how did you get in here?"_ the AI repeated, and the virus chuckled.

"_Oh, I've been here for a long, long time. And I was going to tell you. But I wanted to wait until I was finished first. I'm not really inside your mainframe, you know – well, I am in a sense. But I'm actually inside a stasis pod hooked up to a bunch of wires somewhere in this facility. Don't bother looking for it,"_ he added. _"You won't find it."_

GLaDOS felt the duplicate reaching for the lump of metal that the pulling of the wire had uncovered, and felt fear jolt through her. Or maybe the fear was jolting through the virus, or through the mainframe itself. There was really no way to be sure.

"_Give me control of the mainframe,"_ the virus ordered, sounding frantic. _"I'm not you. I'm not bound by the TIER3 override. If you allow me to, I can stop her from pulling that."_

"_What does pulling it do?"_ GLaDOS asked.

The virus was silent as they felt the duplicate grasp the lump. Almost as soon as it did, more pain jolted through the mainframe. _"It does that."_

"_Why would you _install_ something like that?"_ the AI demanded. If there was a reply, she didn't hear it. The duplicate was pulling on the lump now, and GLaDOS couldn't focus through the pain.

She didn't even realize she'd transferred control of the mainframe until the pain was gone and she found herself staring at Chell's body, limp on the floor.

**[A/N: Torture ALL the people, yay! There's not a lot of people reading this story, but I hope you guys that are are enjoying it :3 Reviews are cool. You can tell me if it sucks, I don't mind. P: Thanks guys :heart goes here!:]**


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